


Stress Relief

by jadenanne7



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M, Late at Night, Yoga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-02-05 13:28:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1820110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadenanne7/pseuds/jadenanne7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My response to a prompt from The Lizzington Shipper's Secret Hiatus Santa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!!!

Irony was a bitch.

Elizabeth Keen had slept like a baby for years next to a man whose sole mission in life was to keep her alive right up until it was time to kill her. Even when she suspected that something was off with her husband, even when she knew for sure that something was terribly wrong, she had no problems sleeping at night. And yet, here she was, living under the protection of the most formidable man she'd ever known, completely safe, and sprawled out in the most comfortable bed she could ever imagine...unable to sleep.

It was unfair.

It was well past midnight and Elizabeth wasn't even dozing. She flopped onto her back, thinking that the gentle lull of the ceiling fan as it moved in slow circles...

Screw it.

She rose from the bed and scooped up her black sleep shorts from where she had discarded them on the floor, easing them up over her white cotton panties. Her sleep attire had been an endless source of amusement for Tom, who had insisted that tank tops and tiny shorts were not appropriate for grown, college-educated women, even if she was just wearing them to bed. Elizabeth had insisted that if she had to forgo the tank top and shorts, he had to forgo the ratty old tennis shoes that had holes in the toes. She had won that argument. Looking back on it, however, she wondered if he might have let her win that argument.

And every other argument.

Sighing, Elizabeth pulled herself away from that sore subject. Thinking of Tom only led to melancholy, and melancholy only led to drinking, and drinking was not something she wanted to do in front of Red. She told him way too much as it was.

After listening at the door for signs of life and hearing none, she tiptoed in her sock-covered feet out of her room and into the hall, intent on finding a glass of warm milk, and if she was lucky, some rich lady's xanax hidden away in a medicine cabinet.

Red really had to get better friends.

When she initially agreed to go with Red on his quest to find Berlin, Elizabeth thought she knew what she was getting into, and she was mostly right. It wasn't safe to stay in one place for too long so they flitted from house to house, some that he owned, and some that were borrowed, like this one. They were all huge, they were all empty, and they all lacked a certain lived-in quality. Definitely not to her taste. And every ring of Red's phone made her insides turn, like she knew that there could be nothing good coming from the other end of the line. After all, who else but the worst criminals in the world would have Raymond Reddington on speed dial?

She didn't count. That was work. Or so she told herself on a daily basis.

Or maybe it was the FBI. That thought was even more horrendous than anything else. What if the FBI had finally caught up to them? What if they wanted to take Red to prison? What if they wanted to take her to prison too?

That was the part that Elizabeth didn't count on. She was forever looking over her shoulder. Not for the bad guys, but for the ones that were supposed to be the good guys. It was awful. And tiring.

Was this how Red felt? Sometimes, when he didn't know she was watching, she could see something that he had never shown her before... just how tired he was. He was exhausted. In those moments he aged twenty years. It never failed to surprise Elizabeth when she felt a sudden rush of sympathy for the man who had ruined her life. Because he did ruin her life. Even if it was for her own good. Even if he was just trying to protect her.

Even if...

That was another thought Elizabeth couldn't ponder for long. In fact, she often wondered why she bothered with thinking. It never did anyone any good anyways.

She took a left in the hallway outside of her door, and then quickly turned, remembering that she was supposed to go right. They had only arrived at the extravagant house a few hours before, and Red had walked her straight up to what was to be her room, insisting that she looked exhausted and needed her rest.

Yeah. Right.

She finally found a flight of stairs halfway down the hall, and made her way slowly down them, trying to keep her footing as she navigated the steps in the dark. One wrong move and Red would find her at the bottom of the steps the next morning with a broken neck.

In her tank top and shortie shorts.

Elizabeth gripped the railing even tighter.

By the time she made it to the bottom of the stairs she felt like cheering. But then she looked around. There was a foyer to the left, a foyer to the right, and a foyer directly in front of her. Where in the hell was the kitchen? She would need a map to find her way through this place. After briefly considering trudging on and ransacking the house until she found the kitchen, she finally decided to turn around and head back upstairs. Dembe was sweet, but he was prone to shoot first and ask questions later.

The trek up the stairs wasn't near as harrowing as the trek down, and Elizabeth even felt confident enough to skip a few steps. She wanted to get back to her room as soon as possible. The dark was starting to get to her. She found her room quickly enough, and shut the door behind her, deciding to turn on the lamp instead of the light switch. The lamp bathed the room in a soft glow, and Elizabeth seated herself on the bed again, defeated.

It was baffling to Elizabeth that the stress was finally getting to her. It never had before, and she had had plenty to stress over. There was a ball of nervous energy coiled tightly in the pit of her stomach, and she shuddered to think what would happen if it coiled any tighter. She might just break into a million pieces. Or a billion little balls of energy. She laughed slightly to herself, remembering what her old college friend, Celia, had told her.

"That's what we go back to, in the end. We go back to energy. Little balls of nothingness that float in the air until we find other little balls of nothingness and join to create...something."

Celia was a hoot. And a bit of a hippie. Just how much of a hippie she would never say. Elizabeth suspected that much of her spirited musings came from one too many mushroom trips with her stoner boyfriend. Celia was down to try anything once. Pot...shrooms...yoga...

Yoga.

Celia had invited Elizabeth to a yoga class after lecture one day, eager to introduce her to an alternate healthy lifestyle. It hadn't worked. That afternoon consisted of Elizabeth rolling around on the floor giggling while Celia shot her dirty looks from between her impossibly bent legs. Celia said it was relaxing. Elizabeth said it was pointless.

Or was it?

Needlessly looking around the room for spying eyes, Elizabeth eased herself down onto the floor, trying to remember some of the poses that Celia's teacher had tried to make her demonstrate. Downward facing dog?

Hardly.

Elizabeth opted for the much simpler basic pose, cross-legged on the floor with her elbows propped on her thighs and her palms out. She breathed in and out and hummed, waiting for the stress to leave her body.

Nothing.

Oh well... she probably wasn't doing it right anway. She sighed and tried to untangle her legs, only to fall to the floor, bursting into peals of laughter. This was what she remembered from that class...ALL she remembered from that class. Except for one thing... She laughed again, while getting on to all fours, slowly pushing herself up into an awkward version of downward facing dog. She never noticed the door slowly opening...

"Oh no. You see, what you think you're doing is downward facing dog. What you're really doing is something that can throw your back out for a month."

And she was on the floor again, just like that, groaning in embarrassment as she took Red's offered hand and hauled herself into a seated position.

"Don't make fun. I'm getting rid of stress," Elizabeth pouted playfully, quite in spite of herself. Her number one rule was all but set in stone: do not flirt with Raymond Reddington. His head was big enough without her help.

"THAT won't get rid of your stress." Red lowered himself down beside her slowly, giving her time to properly take him in. Slacks and the button-up shirt he had worn that day. The shirt was untucked and slightly wrinkled, but he could still throw a jacket over it and be ready to go. Odds are he hadn't even made it to bed yet. Figured. "Perhaps if you would allow me to teach you a few basic poses..."

Elizabeth couldn't help herself. She giggled into her hand, making a futile attempt to hide her amusement. Red doing yoga...what an idea! Red obviously didn't get the joke, and waited on her to compose herself before he continued.

"You may laugh now, but I'll have you know that my mother was a yoga instructor, and a very good one at that! And I'm no slouch, so you might stand to learn a thing or two from me! But if you don't want to..." Red made to rise from the floor and Elizabeth found herself reaching out to stop him.

"No! Don't go," Elizabeth said around her laughter. "Stay and teach me things. Like how to bend my legs back over my head. I've always wanted to do that." She guffawed again, shaking her head at her own silliness. She didn't know what had come over her. She was never like this, least of all with Red. She chanced a glance at his face, almost missing the lecherous glance he threw at her long legs.

Almost.

"You're going to have to take this a bit more seriously if you want me to teach you, Lizzie. Do you want me to teach you?"

Elizabeth swallowed her laughter and fought to gain her composure before answering him. "Yes."

Red nodded seriously. He crawled out into the middle of the floor and motioned for her to sit in front of him. She complied and finally they were sitting cross-legged across from each other, like children preparing to pattycake.

"First things first, Lizzie. Yoga isn't as much about archs as it is about straight lines. You want to line yourself up as straight as possible, to improve your flexibility and your balance..."

"I have no idea what you're saying," Elizabeth interrupted. "I'm more of a visual learner anyway, so just show me."

She caught Red's gaze again and marveled at the patience in his eyes and the fondness of his smile.

"Fine. Straighten your back as much as you can and then settle down slowly into yourself." Red let out something between a laugh and a huff as Elizabeth shot him a warning look. "Ok then. Just watch me."

Red straightened his back considerably in a big inhale and then lowered his shoulders as he exhaled, seemingly relaxing into himself. He made it look so easy. He made everything look easy. Elizabeth straightened herself up and inhaled deeply, dropping down as she exhaled out.

"Wrong."

Seriously? What could possibly be wrong about sitting and breathing?

"How? How am I wrong?" Elizabeth slumped her shoulders completely down in a small protest and Red rolled his eyes.

"You're not even breathing right, Lizzie. You've forgotten how to breathe."

Elizabeth arched her eyebrow in amusement and amazement. Surely he was joking?

"I haven't forgotten anything," she said. "In, out, in, out... See? I don't even have to think about it. I just do it. I'm that good." She took a couple of quick, shallow breaths, just to make a point. Red was less than impressed.

"Stand up," Red said as he rose to his feet, straightening out his wrinkled shirt. Elizabeth quickly followed suit, cursing herself for just obeying without thought. Couldn't make that a habit. Red placed a tentative hand on her stomach and she fought the urge to giggle. He also didn't need to know that she was slightly ticklish. "When we are born, we instinctively breathe correctly. When we inhale, our diaphragm expands, and when we exhale, it contracts." His hand wandered a little higher on her stomach to rest below her breasts and her breath hitched slightly. She wondered if he noticed. "As we grow older and start to stand upright, we grow lazy. We don't bother to suck the air all the way down into our diaphragms and so we aren't filling ourselves up with air. Your shoulders may move when you breathe, but your stomach doesn't. You are taking these little shallow breaths that aren't doing anything for you really."

Red took a deep breath and gestured for her to follow suit. She did, but apparently this wasn't good enough for Red, who rolled his eyes at her for the second time that night and made a twirling gesture with his finger, motioning for her to turn around. She hesitated, uncertain of his intentions, but finally relented and turned her back to him. Her breath hitched again when she felt him pressed against her back. What was he doing? His hand reached around to her stomach and he pulled her slightly back so that they were tight against each other.

"What are..." Elizabeth began to protest, but was cut off by a gentle shushing from Red, who rubbed his hand up and down her stomach in a soothing gesture. It worked.

"Shhh... I'm just doing a breathing exercise. Calm down."

Easy for him to say. Her heart was thumping like a jackrabbit's. Red stroked his thumb against her middle one more time before pressing his lips against her ear. "I'm going to need you to breathe with me, Lizzie. In and out, in and out."

Breathe? Elizabeth could hardly think. Not when he was so close to her...caressing her through her clothes and talking into her ear and smelling so good... No. This was not going to happen. Not tonight, not any night. She pulled away from him quickly, slightly devastated when he just let her go.

"I think I'm done for tonight. That was...interesting... and now I'm done," Elizabeth said as she gestured emphatically towards the door. "You can go now. Off to bed." Off to bed? Who did she think she was, ordering Raymond Reddington to bed like he was a little boy? It was the cologne. It had to be. His expensive cologne had some sort of pheremone in it that drove women insane. Because she wanted him, badly, and that was insane.

Of course Red would not be ordered around, and made that quite clear when he sat at the end of her bed and smirked.

"For such a brave girl you are really a wuss."

Elizabeth bristled. "Alright, Red, I'm through playing. Please leave."

It was one thing to walk brazenly into her room and hit on her shamelessly, but it was quite another to call her names when she rejected him. It was beneath him.

Red laughed. "How can you be through playing? We've barely even started." He rose from the bed and crossed the floor to stand before her. "You are just chickening out because you think it'll be too hard." He sighed dramatically and shook his head. "I really thought better of you Lizzie."

Elizabeth was dangerously close to tears, but refused to show it. How dare he scold her for doing what she thought was right? Red must have sensed her frustration, because his hands were on her shoulders in moments, squeezing and rubbing in reassurance. "Hey... There's no need for that. You know that I would never let you get hurt." His hand traveled up to her neck and his thumb stroked her cheek. "And if you fall, I promise I'll be right here to pick you back up again."

"You will?" Elizabeth asked in a voice that was not quite her own.

Red nodded slowly, as if he couldn't believe she even had to ask. "Of course. And you may fall a few times. From what I've seen tonight your balance needs some serious work."

Her balance?

Confusion clouded Elizabeth's brain as she watched Red go to his knees in the middle of her floor and gestured for her to do the same.

"Now this is not going to be as comfortable as it would be if we had a mat, but seeing as we don't... we'll improvise with this GORGEOUS Persian rug. Caleb's wife really has good taste, doesn't she?" Red ran his fingers through the plush carpet and looked at her expectantly. She realized that she was still standing in front of him like a deer in headlights, and quickly hit her knees on the carpet, grateful that it was as comfortable as it looked.

"Red... I don't know that..."

"I know that look, Lizzie," he interrupted. "There's no backing out now that we've gotten this far. I mean... we are down on the floor for goodness sake. I don't do this with everyone."

Elizabeth was speechless. He didn't do this with everyone? Was she supposed to be flattered?

"Now to do this, you are going to need to start out on all fours," Red began as he leaned forward and braced his hands on the floor in demonstration. Elizabeth fumed. On her knees in the middle of the floor? Was that what he thought of her? She opened her mouth to voice her fury and quickly closed it shut when Red straightened out his legs and slid his arms forward in a perfect downward facing dog.

Oh.

She was glad that his head was facing the floor so he couldn't possibly see her face turn red and her mouth form a perfect 'o'. And she thought that Red walking in on her was the most embarrassing thing that could happen. She was wrong.

"Come on, Lizzie. I'm not going to hold this all night," Red said from his position on the floor. "Don't worry about looking silly. I can't even see you."

Knowing that if she didn't comply he would just keep pushing, and desperate for him not to see her, Elizabeth scurried to his side and pushed herself into an even more awkward version of downward dog. She held the position as best she could, running the previous encounter through her head, over and over again until she could hardly stand it. How rediculous had she gotten, thinking that a man like Raymond Reddington could possibly have designs on her? The full impact of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks and she couldn't help herself. She laughed. She laughed and lost control of her downward facing dog, tumbling into Red and sending them both crashing onto the floor.

"Lizzie!" Red yelled, "Are you okay?"

Elizabeth flopped onto her back and continued to laugh, earning looks of concern from her bewildered yoga instructor. Red put his hand over hers and shook it slightly, trying to gain her attention.

"Lizzie? What...?"

"It's nothing," Elizabeth gasped, trying to control the laughter that burst forth straight from her belly. "It's just...I just...what are you doing here?"

Red furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean? I was showing you some yoga poses to get rid of your stress..."

"NO! I mean, what are you doing HERE? In my room? Why did you come in here?" Elizabeth felt the humor of the situation fade away, and all of a sudden she really wanted to know. Why had he come to her in the middle of the night?

"If you must know," Red sighed as he lowered himself down beside her and onto his back, "I heard you laughing." His hands met over his stomach and he folded them like he always did when he didn't know what else to do with them. "I had never heard you laugh before. It's a lovely sound, you know, and I suppose I gravitated towards it. I swear I knocked, you just didn't seem to hear me."

Elizabeth believe him. Of course he knocked before he entered a woman's room. He was a gentleman that way.

"It doesn't bother me that you came in," Elizabeth ventured slowly, measuring each word before she let it leave her mouth. "I was embarrassed that you caught me in an awkward position, but it didn't bother me that you came in. It wasn't like I was asleep or anything. In fact, I may never sleep again." She grabbed a hold of the carpet with her fists and pulled a bit, wondering how hard she would have to pull to rip up chunks. Not that she would ever do that.

Red rolled over onto his side to look at her, his eyes conveying blatant curiousity. "If you don't mind me asking... what is it that has you so stressed out?"

Elizabeth mulled his question over in her mind before finally giving him what he really wanted... the truth.

"I don't know, exactly. It's more of a feeling than anything else." She released the carpet from her grip and waved her hand over her stomach. "It's here. It's right here in the pit of my stomach, in my core. There is something there and I can't explain it. It's like there's something coiled so tightly in there, and I feel as if I move the wrong way or do the wrong thing it'll explode and I'll be in a million pieces, just floating around the universe." She looked up at Red, expecting him to laugh at her, or at the very least roll his eyes. He did neither. Instead, his eyes lit up in understanding.

"Oh Lizzie..." Red rubbed his hand across his face and shook his head in almost disbelief. "I hate your late husband every single day, but there are some days that I wish he was alive so that I could wrap my hands around his throat. If you don't even know what it feels like to crave..."

He cut himself off, almost reluctantly, then shook his head again. Elizabeth shrugged slightly. "What?"

"Oh sweetheart. You really didn't think that a little bit of yoga would make that feeling go away, did you?"

Elizabeth shrugged again, making Red groan in frustration. "I thought it would at least help."

"Well it won't," Red growled slightly. He eyed her intently, searching her face until he found exactly what he wanted. "But let me show you what will." Elizabeth squealed when his hand swept over her stomach and into her shorts, his index finger brushing over her clit. He cupped her sex and then stilled his hand, looking at her one more time as if he expected her to stop him. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly when she didn't. "Did that make you feel better?"

Words were impossible, so Elizabeth stuck with a slight shake of her head. Red's face fell in disappointment and he slowly started to pull his hand away from her, only to be stopped by her hand on his wrist. He scooted closer to her and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "Would you like for me to stop?"

Stop?

If he stopped now she would surely explode. Or burst into flames. Either way, he couldn't stop.

She shook her head again and Red nodded in understanding. His hand moved down further and she fought to breathe. How had she never realized how big his hands were? Or how skilled? Two fingers seemed to fill her beyond anything Tom had ever offered, and she wriggled and squirmed until she felt him slide in another. Her back arched slightly off the floor and she chanced a glance at the man giving her such pleasure with so little effort. He was still propped up on one elbow, watching her, just watching her as she came apart by his hand. "Please," she begged, and was rewarded with his thumb pressing firmly against her clit, applying various amounts of pressure as he rubbed her. Her back arched completely off of the floor this time, and she moaned loudly as she climaxed around his fingers.

The earth spun off-kilter for a few moments, and it took several moments for Elizabeth to open her tightly shut eyes and re-join the living. The pressure that had been building in her core was eased somewhat. It wasn't gone completely, but it was definitely lessened.

Elizabeth turned her head to face Red, who was looking at her with something akin to worship. It was unsettling. In a good way.

"Are you okay?" Red's voice was low, lower than she'd ever heard it, and her insides started to coil again. She shook her head and he frowned slightly.

"I think," Elizabeth started, catching his hand with hers, "that it might take a few intense yoga sessions for this feeling to go away." Red's face broke into a grin and Elizabeth grinned back. "Are you up for it?"

Red shifted the lower half of his body slightly. "Oh yes, Lizzie. Definitely up for it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!!!

As she straddled Raymond Reddington on the floor of her borrowed bedroom, it occurred to Elizabeth that maybe she didn't have a handle on herself as well as she thought she did. It was as though she couldn't control her own actions. It didn't seem like something she would do, kissing the nape of Red's neck just to hear the moan it produced. It wasn't like her to not wait for a man to make the first move...for her to grab his hands and place them firmly on her breasts. And it certainly wasn't like her to grind her hips wantonly against his, seeking the appropriate amount of friction that would result in another mind-blowing orgasm...

"Stop thinking, Lizzie. You'll think about it enough tomorrow." Red's hands left her breasts to travel to her hips, shifting her by mere centimeters into a position that made her moan with every movement. She rolled her hips again and again, building up the friction through their clothing until she was seeing stars. Her teeth sunk into the fabric of his shirt...she was so close...so close...until she wasn't anymore.

"Reddington! You don't have to worry about Berlin anymore! I'll kill you myself!" Elizabeth cried out from her prone position on the floor.

Red's hand clamped down over her mouth and she resisted the urge to bite it. "Keep yelling like that and Dembe is going to come in here. Do you want Dembe to come in here?" Elizabeth shook her head and Red removed his hand from her mouth and replaced it with his lips. Elizabeth froze. He had kissed her before, but always on the shoulder...the jaw...the neck. It had been their one unspoken rule that night. They did not kiss on the mouth. She should have known it would be Red who broke that rule.

"As much as I love women who just lay there and let me do whatever I want to them, I was expecting a bit more from you Lizzie," Red whispered against her firmly shut lips. She opened her mouth to respond and he took full advantage of it, sliding his tongue in to meet hers with such vigor that she had no choice but to engage in the kiss, tilting her head up to give him better access and wrapping her arms around his waist. He kissed her for what felt like an eternity, only to stop when she brought her leg up over his and lifted her hips.

"Why are you trying to rush this?" Red asked as he tried to catch his breath. "We have all night."

Elizabeth sighed as he rolled away from her to lie flat on the floor. "I wasn't aware that I was rushing anything. I just need..." Elizabeth faltered, not even knowing exactly what she needed. Her stomach was coiled tighter than ever, and she desperately wanted Red to touch her like he touched her before.

"I know what you need," Red's voice came from right bedside her ear and she realized that he had rolled over to watch her. "But I want you to understand what I need." His hand slid underneath her tank top to explore the skin of her stomach, making her abdomen quiver and contract. "I have no doubt that at some point tomorrow you will barge into my room and announce that this was a mistake, and that we should pretend that it never happened." Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest, but Red cut her off before she could utter a single word. "You know it, and I know it. So let's not pretend, shall we?" His hand dipped slightly beneath the waistband of her shorts, leaving her very disappointed when it went no further. "Tonight may be the only night I get to have you like this, willing and wanting, and I intend to take my time with you."

Elizabeth turned into him and fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, not knowing how to respond to his declarations and accusations. She unbuttoned a button at the bottom, and when he didn't stop her, she unbuttoned one more, sliding her hand into the space she'd created. The muscles in his stomach contracted as hers had, giving her a gratifying sense of power. He rested his hand on her hip, giving her free reign.

"This isn't something that I think I want to forget," she said, almost to herself. His exposed neck was too tempting, and she peppered it with kisses and scrapes of her teeth while her hand worked his belt buckle. "And I'm not trying to rush it." To prove her point she trailed slow, lazy kisses down his neck to his slightly exposed chest, nuzzling the downy hair she found there. "It's only that you make me feel things I've never felt before, and I want to feel those things as much as possible."

Elizabeth summoned all of her strength to roll onto her back and pull Red down with her. She gazed up at his amused face and pouted. "Don't I make you feel things?"

Red frowned and took her hand from his hips to pull it between them, placing it firmly on his hardened length. "Yes."

Elizabeth wondered at the size and the length of it, in awe of how heavy it felt in her hand. She could feel the tension radiating off of Red's body, and it made her feel adventurous. Her grip on his length tightened, and she began to slowly stroke him through his pants. He groaned loudly before pushing himself off of her and onto his knees.

"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" Red rolled his eyes at Elizabeth's confused face and slapped his hands down on his thighs. "Stand up."

"What?" Elizabeth stammered.

"You heard me. Stand. Up."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the positive response to this story!!!
> 
> I own nothing!!

Elizabeth had never taken instruction very well, and had certainly never been one to jump when ordered. But when Raymond Reddington tells you to stand, you stand. She was surprised to feel her legs shaking as she slowly made her way to her feet, something Red was very aware of. "Steady now, Lizzie," he said, placing his hands on the sides of her thighs. "We haven't even started yet."

Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth attempted to steady herself, letting her fingertips rest on Red's shoulders for support. She struggled to find her center, closing her eyes to concentrate. There was a flutter across her abdomen and she giggled and squealed at the sensation.

"Relax," Red whispered into her hip bone as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Elizabeth complied, bringing her hands up from his shoulders to run over the short hair on his head, something she'd really always wanted to do. The sensation against the palms of her hands calmed her, though it seemed to have the opposite affect on Red, who growled into her stomach. He caught the hem of her tank in his hands and stood slowly, inching the garment up and and up and finally over her head.

Elizabeth realized that she should have felt very vulnerable, but all she felt was free. All embarrassment and shame was quickly overwhelmed by an all-encompassing wave of lust. Red's hands traveled from her hips to spread out along her back. Fingertips traced her spine and she shivered instinctively.

"Cold?" Red teased, "We can put your shirt ba..." His words were stolen by Elizabeth's tongue as she attacked his mouth in an almost punishing kiss. His hands were everywhere then, tangled in her hair, exploring her back, and then finally caressing her breasts with something akin to reverence. With great reluctance he broke away from her mouth, letting his lips trail from her jaw to her neck. His teeth grazed her shoulders almost playfully, ans she grasped his shoulders tightly as he soothed the bite with his tongue.

Elizabeth grew breathless under his ministrations, and she frantically tried to remember the last time she had been kissed with such passion.

Never.

Not once in her thirty years of life had anyone kissed her like this. Red didn't just kiss her, he devoured her. He...

"I must not be trying hard enough." Red's voice broke through Elizabeth's thoughts and she wondered how long he had been standing with his forehead pressed to hers. "You shouldn't be able to think right now, but I can practically hear your wheels turning." Elizabeth pulled her head back to look him in the eyes and was pleased with what she saw. "Well," she said, stroking her hand down the collar of his shirt, "Try harder."

And with that, he was on his knees again, placing open-mouthed kisses around her belly button and hooking his thumbs around the waistband of her shorts, bringing them and her underwear down her legs at the same time. She stepped out of them instinctively when they hit her feet, and they were quickly tossed to the side.

It was insanely erotic, Elizabeth standing nude before a fully-dressed Red. She studied the top of his head and the flex of his shoulders through his shirt as he ran his hands down her thighs and up the back of her legs to her ass. She felt his lips graze the top of her mound and she tensed. "You really don't have to do that," she almost begged, flushing when Red raised an eyebrow at her. "Not something you particularly enjoy?" He said it almost sarcastically, as if there were no way he would believe that.

Elizabeth sighed. "I wouldn't know."

Red's eyes darkened slightly, but it was gone before Elizabeth could question it. Within moments she was sitting on the edge of the bed with Red kneeling between her thighs, stroking her hips. She opened her mouth to reiterate that this was something she'd rather skip, but Red was determined to not let her talk. "I don't know," he began quietly, "if I should be angry at Tom for not taking care of you properly, or elated at finding out all these little ways that he clearly didn't measure up."

The room grew hotter as she felt Red's breath across her breasts...her abdomen...the tops of her thighs.

"I want you to trust me, Lizzie. That's all I've ever wanted. If you want me to stop I'll stop, but please allow me to show you this, at least once."

Her nod was almost imperceptible, but it was there. Red pressed at her abdomen, urging her to lie back, but was only able to coax her back onto her elbows. He smirked as he lowered himself to her center. "That's fine. I like to watch too."

Elizabeth locked eyes with Red as he placed a kiss to her innermost thigh, trailing his lips across her core to her other thigh. She tensed again when he worked his hands under her thighs and brought them up over his shoulders. "Relax," he said soothingly. "It'll make it better for both of us." Elizabeth held the eye contact as Red brushed his lips over her core again, and moaned as his tongue swept across her lips and worked to part them. She fought the urge to lift her hips, then realized that he was holding them down anyway. His lips left her for a moment, and she pouted in disappointment until his tongue worked its way inside her, earning a loud moan. He fucked her almost violently with his tongue, smirking when her elbows turned to jelly and she collapsed onto the bed, her hands grasping the sheets for some kind of leverage.

"Do you want me to stop?" Red asked between pressing fervent kisses to her mound, purposefully avoiding her clit. Elizabeth shook her head and raked her hands along the bed. "Please don't stop," she begged. It was all he needed to hear. His hands roamed her body as his tongue worked her up into a frenzy, alternating between fucking her and lathing all the parts Red felt were being neglected. She was close to exploding, but something was missing... Elizabeth quickly figured out what it was as Red's lips finally closed around her clit, worrying it with his tongue. Her thighs instinctively closed around his neck and her hands left the bed to touch whatever part of his she could reach. His hands came up to grasp hers and he held her down tightly as he wrapped his tongue around her clit and sucked hard...

Elizabeth died. That's the only plausible explanation she could come up with after coming back down to earth to find Red half-lying on the bed beside her, tracing little patterns onto her stomach and making low shushing noises. She hadn't even realized that she was still moaning his name. She closed her eyes again and parted her lips invitingly when Red leaned over to kiss her, tasting what could only have been herself on his tongue. "How are you feeling?" he asked, nuzzling her neck.

She didn't answer.

She couldn't...words seemed beyond her. Red kissed her shoulder and gazed at her with open concern. "Lizzie...how do you feel?" She looked back at him and managed a smile. "I feel like...like...like I want to return the favor."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie returns the favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fair warning...this is in no way safe for work. 
> 
> And I own nothing, but sometimes I like to borrow the characters and make them do stuff. Like yoga, of course.

This was not how she had pictured life on the run would be, but as Elizabeth straddled Red for the second time that night, she decided that she liked this better than any other scenario she could have imagined. Red had placed himself against the headboard of the bed, eager to receive her attentions. His hands lay still on the mattress, as if touching her might send her scurrying from the room.

If he only knew...

It would be no easy task to take Raymond Reddington apart, but Elizabeth felt confident in her abilities. She worked slowly down the buttons that were still buttoned on his shirt, letting her fingertips graze heated skin with every pass. A noise she'd never heard before escaped from the back of Red's throat, and the final button popped off and onto the bed as she yanked a little too hard in response.

Oops.

"That was my favorite shirt," Red scolded in mock seriousness, his fingers twitching at his sides.

Elizabeth shrugged, peeling his shirt away from his chest and taking him in, grinning at the abundance of hair that trailed down to a place that was unfortunately covered by his slacks. "I'll sew it back on later." She splayed her hands over his pecs, running them up to his shoulders and back again, taking note that his heart was definitely thumping faster.

"CAN you sew?"

"Of course not." Elizabeth leaned forward, shivering when her bare breasts brushed against his chest. She nibbled along his jaw and nipped playfully at his ear. "But I'll make it up to you somehow."

Hands gripped her back as her lips met his, and she smiled around a searing kiss. Apparently Red had finally deemed it safe to play. Good.

Elizabeth didn't want to play alone.

Inching slowly down his body, she made sure her lips touched every part of him. She kissed along the pulse points of his neck, inhaling the remnants of his aftershave and a hint of his cologne. Heavenly. Grazing across his chest, she clamped on to each nipple, biting and sucking until his breath was heavy and uneven. His hands pressed down onto her shoulders, silently begging her to travel lower.

As Elizabeth slid her tongue down the planes of Red's abdomen, she busied her hands with the button on his slacks. He watched, clearly fascinated, as she slid down and eased the zipper open with her teeth, something she had always wanted to do, but never had the courage to try. She held her breath and licked her lips as she locked eyes with Red, hoping that particular move came off as sexy and sensual, not embarrassing and awkward. The unbridled lust in his gaze allayed any fears she might have had.

Definitely sexy.

Red shifted his hips beneath her, a subtle reminder that she was in no way finished. She gestured for him to lift his hips and he readily complied, moaning in relief as she eased his slacks partway down his thighs, revealing dark blue tented boxers. She didn't have to feel him to know he was hard was a rock. It would have been kind to just free him completely, but Elizabeth chose cruel instead. Lowering her head, she could hear him swallow in anticipation, then groan as she placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss on the long, jagged scar that adorned his hip.

"You're killing me, Lizzie." Red shifted again, only to be held in place, unable to move his lower half. Payback was a bitch.

"It looks like somebody already tried to," Elizabeth muttered as she traced the scar with her fingernail. "What happened?"

Red sighed dramatically and let his hands fall back onto the bed in feigned defeat. "Someone didn't like my yoga technique." He hissed when Elizabeth pinched his thigh. "Ow. Completely unnecessary." Elizabeth glared and he smiled back at her, unperturbed. "If you promise not to ask any more questions tonight, I promise I'll tell you about it in the morning. I'll tell you about all my scars. I can assure you that's not the worst of them."

Red looked a bit worried, and Elizabeth frowned. Red was never worried. The promise of an explanation was even more worrisome, but it was more than she'd ever been promised before, so she nodded her head in agreement and kissed the scar one more time.

And once more for good luck.

Red's hands returned to her shoulders as she freed him from the prison of his boxers and took him into her hand. Hot steel wrapped in velvet. She considered voicing her musings, but thought better of it, leaning down to take him into her mouth instead.

"Lizzie..." Red's voice slightly echoed through the room, breathless and gruff at the same time.

Deciding she liked that sound, Elizabeth attempted to draw it out of him again. Putting her tongue to good use, she ran it along the head of his throbbing member, sucking slightly as she released him. It was obscene, the amount of pleasure she derived from hearing Red's whimpering in the back of his throat from the loss of contact. He was almost a mess, and she had only just begun...

Elizabeth held him steady in her hand as her tongue coated his shaft, preparing him for what was to come. She took a few moments to mentally prepare herself as well. It had been so long.... Gathering her hair and sweeping it to one side, she swept down and took as much as she could of him into her mouth and down her throat, the throbbing of his cock lending a pulse to her sucking and swallowing. His hands replaced hers in her hair, holding it back for her as she braced herself carefully on his hips, her nails digging into the tender flesh as he moaned her name over and over, like his own personal mantra.

"Yes...Lizzie..."

She refused to settle into a rhythm, teasing his tip with her tongue then plunging down onto him all over again, taking him deeper every time. Despite what she knew were his very best efforts, Red thrust into her mouth more than a few times, his hands fisting in her hair when he caught himself committing this offense. Elizabeth knew he would apologize for that later, but she didn't want to hear it. What she wanted to hear was her name bouncing off of every corner of the room. A few swift passes of her teeth down his shaft and a few strategic squeezes produced just that.

"Lizzie!"

He pulsed and released as she pinned his hips to the bed, refusing to release him until he was still and soft, no matter how urgently he tugged at her hair, trying desperately to pull her away. When he finally lay limp on the bed, drained of every ounce of energy he might have had, Elizabeth made her way back up to stretch out beside him, placing a small kiss to his bicep as she went.  
They lay in total silence for several moments, until Elizabeth heard rather than saw Red pull his slacks back up his hips. He sat up, running his hands wearily over his face, and for one disappointing moment, Elizabeth thought he might leave her and retreat to his own room. She was pleasantly surprised when he reached down and pulled the quilt that had been neatly folded at the end of the bed to cover them both, pulling her body close to his underneath it.

"I underestimated you," he whispered into her ear as he drew lazy circles into her hip. "That was my mistake."

Elizabeth smiled as exhaustion overtook her and her eyes slid shut. "That's ok. Just don't let it happen again."


End file.
